Quick Hits: Why Iran May Be A Problem For Bush

by Steve

Sorry to have been away for the better part of two days, but yesterday was our daughter’s 18th birthday, and you folks, no matter how much I like you (and even Toby and Muck), you can’t compete with her. And today, I had to use my day off (thanks Mr. Lincoln!) to do some computer repairs and to move a room around. With those excuses out of the way, here are some quick thoughts.

Raw Story reported today that Valerie Plame and Brewster Jennings were tracking Iran’s nuclear program at the time that Scooter and Shooter blew them up by leaking her identity. You’ll recall that the Bush Administration admitted last year that they didn’t have good intelligence on what was going on inside Iran and North Korea. If this story is true, and now the Administration feels that Iran is a growing threat, then Scooter and Shooter have damaged national security for political purposes. That’s worth an espionage charge for Scooter and impeachment for Shooter.

And why will this story, if true, bury Bush? Because the public is concerned about Iran, as evidenced by the new CNN/USAT/Gallup poll (Feb. 9-12) out late today (31% GOP, 39% Independents, 30% Dems - another Gallup Poll that grossly undersamples Democrats), which shows that Bush’s approval rating has fallen again to 39%, and that Iran is weighing on the minds of Americans. If it now turns out that our ability to deal with their nuclear program was crippled by Scooter and Shooter, then Bush is finished. And again, if this poll grossly undersamples Democrats and Bush still falls to 39%, then what is his true approval rating?

The AP now moves from tying Abramoff to Harry Reid to tying Smiling Jack to Karl Rove.

Paul Hackett drops out of the Senate Democratic primary in Ohio against Sherrod Brown for the right to challenge Mike DeWine, and complains that he was betrayed by the party. The truth, as Kos says, is that he should have run from the outset for a rematch against Jean Schmidt, instead of reaching too high for a Senate run. I hope he reconsiders his vow to leave politics and goes after Schmidt, who he can beat.

Paul Waldman, writing for Media Matters for America in the Washington Monthly confirms what you already knew: Sunday news shows are now bastions for conservatives.

And lastly, given the bad blood that exists between new GOP majority leader John Boehner and message master Frank Luntz, no one should be too surprised to see that Luntz was uninvited to the House GOP retreat last week. What is surprising however is how quickly Harry Reid invited Luntz to come over to our side of the aisle and school Senate Democrats on how the game is played by the GOP.